A Liberal Democrat cabinet minister has warned that a Government-backed inquiry into the conduct of industrial disputes must not be used as a vehicle for “union bashing”.
Prime Minister David Cameron ordered the review into the tactics used by the unions in the wake of the bitter dispute which almost led to the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, amid accusations of bullying and intimidation.
Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable has already made it clear he only assented to the inquiry, headed by the industrial relations lawyer Bruce Carr QC, on the basis that it would also examine the practices of employers.
In a further sign of coalition tensions, his party colleague Danny Alexander, the Treasury Chief Secretary, has now indicated that the Lib Dems will only agree to any recommendations to change the law if they were convinced they would lead to an improvement in industrial relations.
“If there are measured, sensible, prudent reforms that could help to improve the industrial relations landscape yet further, I’d be up for that. What I’m not up for is a bunch of union-bashing,” he told Sky News’s Murnaghan programme.
The review follows claims the Unite union adopted so-called “leveraged” tactics in an attempt to intimidate executives from Ineos, the refinery’s owners, including sending “mobs” of demonstrators to protest outside their homes.
The Conservative Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude acknowledged that industrial relations in the UK were generally good, but said that key facilities like Grangemouth had to be protected.
“It is a balanced and impartial inquiry looking into what goes on in industrial disputes to see whether the law is adequate.”
TUC head of employment rights Sarah Veale said the inquiry was clearly “politically driven”. She also defended Unite’s tactics in the Grangemouth dispute.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said he wanted reassurances that the move was not a “political call”. He told BBC One’s Sunday Politics show: “Of course if there’s been intimidation it’s unacceptable and that should apply to unions as well as employers.”